Power Outage Storytelling
by KeEpCaLmAnDwAtChAsTrObOy
Summary: During a power outage in Metro City, Astro decides to visit my OC Claire, where she tells him the story of how she meet his father, Dr. Tenma (SUPER MINOR SWEARING!)
1. An Unexpected Pair

Power Outage Storytelling

By: Emily the Artist and Kaitlyn Draws Manga

**Chapter 1: An Unexpected Pair**

Today the city had a power outage... its been going on since this morning, its getting a little late and the professor was panicking (typical for all humans I assume).

So I decided to pay a visit to someone, nothing else to do I suppose.

I was hurrying downstairs, my twin and Uran were busy doing something I can't remember, but I do know it probably had something to do with our game console.

"This is driving me insane! If it gets dark and i don't have any light I'll never get my report done and I need it by tomorrow!" Elefun complained, his hands flew around his head as he spoke quickly, almost making it hard to understand him.

"Calm down, Doctor. I'm sure the power will come back!" I reassured him.

Gosh, humans _do _worry too much...

"Ugh! This stupid thing won't work!" Next it was my twin who started complaining.

"Because the powers out, ditz?!" I replied.

"But this is powered by _batteries_?!" My twin scooted foreword.

"And the TV?" I had a sarcastic look on my face.

"Uh..." He had a look of confusion on his face, I smirked and rolled my eyes.

I walked over to the kitchen that was diagonal from the living room, I pulled something out of the fridge and readjusted my suspenders that were hanging from my belt loop.

"Why do you always wear suspenders?" Uran, my sister, asked.

"Its my style.. I always wear suspenders with band T-shirts and skinny jeans," I closed the fridge.

Uran didn't seem amused.

"Ugh, whatever!" I walked away from the kitchen and walked towards the front door.

"I'm gonna go visit a friend, okay?" I grabbed my red book bag from the floor and swung it over my shoulder as I was talking to Dr. Elefun.

"Umm... okay." The professor shrugged his shoulders.

I unlocked the door.

"But Astro..."

I turned around.

"Yes?"

"Please don't run away from me _again_..."

"Well I can't make any _promises_... but I'll do my best to avoid it," I smirked and headed out the door, winking slightly.

I walked past the short driveway and turned right, as if I was walking to Dr. Tenma's.

But i wasn't.

I wanted to visit someone else.

I was on my way to visit Dr. Claire...

The story of us goes a while back when something happen to me and I lost most of my memory and decided to just hang around on the street, it started to pour and she took me in and let me stay with her until she took me back to the professor, so I decided now would be a great time to go visit and thank her since there was nothing to do...

No power, no new songs from black veil brides I can listen to, and I certainly had no inspiration or desire to write in my journal.

So now was the best time to thank her.

It was getting colder and colder, I took my jacket from my book bag and put it on, the red from the jacket stood out from all the black I was wearing (and yes, you probably _would_ mistake me for a band member too, I really don't mind though...)

I walked farther until I reached Tenma's house, I put my book bag down and took a long, curious gaze at it, I then grabbed my stuff and continued on.

I finally made it to her house, I slowly yet casually walked up to the door.

My hands began to tremble, I got a little spooked and refused to knock on the door.

I took a deep breath.

I slowly knocked on the door, Dr. Claire came out instantly.

"Why hello Astro, you must be _cold _you should come inside" She put her hands on my shoulders, I blushed slightly.

I walked inside, doing as told, I plopped right onto her couch as she walked over to the kitchen.

The room was filled with candles and battery powered lights, I was amazed at the fact that even through a power outage, she still managed to get light.

"Well now since you're here... I have a chance to tell you a story!" Dr. Claire seemed excited.

A story?

Woah.. remind me again?

A STORY!

This bitch is joking, right?

I come to say thanks and she wants to tell me a STORY?!

Miff...

Oh well...

"What kind of story?" I asked, trying to be nice.

"Well..." Dr. Claire had a high pitched eerie voice, she made an "eh" face and shrugged her shoulders.

"Its the story of how I met Dr. Tenma!" She blushed.

I took a double take.

_This _just got interesting...

"Y- you mean _the _Dr. Tenma, m- my father!" I couldn't help but stutter.

"Ahh yes, your father.. hmm.. where do i begin?" Dr. Claire looked pensively at me.

"Oh, It all started a few months ago, around the beginning of summer." She started.

Okay, I'm bored.

Damn I think too much!

"Uh huh..." I nodded my head.

"_Gee, it's REALLY nice out today!" Emily said, looking up at the bright sky._

"_Haha. Yeah! Glad I didn't take my car, else we would miss all this!" Kaitlyn looked around at the bright green leaves of nearby trees._

_Kaitlyn and Emily were walking down the sidewalk on their way to the city park. Uran asked them if they could come and play with her and her dog, Jump. The girls had nothing in particular to do that day, so they decided to go._

"_I don't really care for dogs, but I haven't seen Jump in a while." Emily looked over at Kaitlyn._

_Kaitlyn nodded but she seemed to be distracted._

"_What are ya lookin' at, Kate?" Emily giggled._

"_That lady over there seems awfully familiar." Kaitlyn pointed a woman walking the opposite way on the other side of the road._

_Emily looked over._

"_Oh that's Dr. Claire I think. I've seen her in Dr. Elefun's office before. She must work for him."_

_Kaitlyn looked confused._

_"Ya know the girl who used to be a biologist?" Emily tried to describe her to Kaitlyn._

"_Ooooh... Well, lets go over and talk to her! She seems nice." _

_Kaitlyn looked up and down the street for cars then started walking across it._

"_Hello, Dr. Claire!" Emily yelled to her._

_Dr. Claire looked around as soon as she heard her name being called, she continued to read a book she had in her hand._

"_YO LADY!" Kaitlyn bellowed out._

_Dr. Claire turned around and saw the girls running up to her._

"_Oh, hello. Do I know you two?" She asked._

"_Ah... kinda…. We're friends of Doctor Elefun's." Emily smiled._

_"Oh!" Dr. Claire put her book down._

_The Emily and Kaitlyn finally made it up to her._

_"Well its nice to meet you guys, but i'm kinda reading this book right now, I can take take a rain check" she joked. _

"_But we never really had a proper introduction." Kaitlyn looked up to her with a puppy face._

_"Oh im just joking, a friend of Elefun's is a friend of mine!" Dr. Claire beamed at the girls._

_They all giggled._

"_Well, I'm Kaitlyn!" Kaitlyn said with a big grin as they all started to walk alongside each other._

"_And I'm Emily." Emily blushed._

_"So what book are you reading?" She asked._

_"Oh its this wonderful book by my favorite author, Oscar Wilde!" _

"_I think I may have heard of him before." Kaitlyn thought out loud._

_"Oh, I've never heard of him?" Emily looked curious. _

_"Ahh I don't think these books are for you, they might not be at your level..." Dr. Claire looked at Emily and adjusted her glasses. _

"_Do you mean vocabulary or content?" Kaitlyn smirked.._

_"Little bit of both..." _

"_Hmmm. I see." Kaitlyn couldn't help but chuckle a little._

_"You're welcome to borrow my books any time." Dr. Claire smiled._

_"Thanks!" Both girls smiled._

_They came to a corner._

"_We really should get going back to the park. Uran's probably waiting." Kaitlyn said._

"_Yeah we should. It was nice talking to you, ma'am." Emily smiled and waved to her as she and Kaitlyn started to walk away._

"_Goodbye!" The girls yelled back as they jogged to the park._

"_Bye!" Dr. Claire smiled._

"_Such nice kids." She thought._

_Elsewhere, a man dressed in black rushed down the sidewalk, his coat catching the wind and flying behind him. He looked down at the ground, concentrating on something._

_He saw a turn at the sidewalk and took a sharp curve._

_Dr. Claire turned around to keep walking but suddenly a dark figure appeared in front of her. _

_The man had bumped into someone. He took a step back, but his shoe caught on the bottom of his coat._

_The two went falling to the ground._

"_I'm so sorry, sir. I should have watched where I was going..." Dr. Claire apologized as she tried to get up._

"_Oh no, it's my fault. I was just thinking a little to hard and I wasn't looking…" The man stuttered. _

_They both looked up slowly._

"_Uh.. I - I… You're a very handsome... man." Dr. Claire gazed into his eyes._

"_And you are very beautiful..." He looked back into hers._

_They stared at each other in silence._

"_Oh.. I really should get going..." Claire looked at her watch._

_She got up and helped the man up._

"_My glasses!" Dr. Claire noticed she couldn't see as well._

"_Oh, they're on the ground here." The man leaned down and picked them up. _

_He slid them onto Dr. Claire._

"_Thank you..." She blushed._

"_But now that I can see you better… you seem very familiar…. Anyway, I'm Dr..."_

"That must've been awkward..." I was totally into the story now... things were getting _pretty _interesting. (Gosh, I need to stop watching TV, especially adults swims)

"It was..." Dr. Claire blushed, I leaned back, finding a position I found comfortable.

"And why the hell would say my dad is handsome... the hell is _**wrong**_with you?!" I folded my arms and had a defensive look on my face.

She glanced at me with an annoyed look.

"Let me just continue the story…."

"_Anyway, I'm Dr. Claire. Dr. Cindy Claire." Dr. Claire moved some of her hair behind to the back of her ear. _

"_I'm Umatarō. Dr. Umatarō Tenma." He chuckled._

"_Dr… Tenma?" Dr. Claire took a step back..._

"_I've... heard things about you." She said nervously._

"_I see…. Miss Claire, I've done many things I regret." He looked down. _

_"H- how can I be so sure you won't do them again..." Dr. Claire began to slowly walk backwards, slowly pushing both her hands foreword. _

"_I'm a changed man. I can assure you." He smiled._

_Dr. Claire laughed nervously._

_"Uh, o- okay.. well it was a pleasure meeting you but uh... I have somewhere to go! I'll uh, see you around then?" Dr. Claire smiled nervously and turned around. _

"_Wait..." He grabbed her wrist._

_"Ah!" She gasped. _

_"Uh.. this isn't a great time Tenma, I need to visit Dr. Elefun at the ministry because... I'm his assistant!" The idea quickly came to her. _

"_Look… I feel something... and I haven't felt it in a long time. I just want to talk to you some more.. some other time.. I want to prove to you that I changed." He looked at her, his eyes sparkling in the sun._

_"I'm not interested in what you have to prove to me.. I enjoy my work and work only.. I have no time for such shenanigans" Dr. Claire folded her arms and snorted._

_Tenma sighed._

_"You have a great day sir!" Dr. Claire walked away from Tenma, clutching her book in her hand._

"_See you around..." He stared at the ground as he sat on a nearby bench._

_Dr. Claire had to head back to work, she was an "apprentice" for Dr. Elefun, since she switched from biology to robotics, she needed training, and thats how she met Dr. Elefun._

_She always focused on work constantly and rarely went out unless it was to visit family for the holidays..._

_So Tenma?_

_Just another bump in the road. _

_That's what she thought._

_Dr. Claire made it to Elefun's office, he stood there with his arms folded._

_"You're five minutes late.." he complained._

_"I- I'm so sorry professor.. I uh, ran into someone and we had a brief talk, I swear it won't happen again!" Dr. Claire looked worried._

"_It better not happen again. You don't want to make anymore bad impressions, do you?"_

_"N- no doctor..." Dr. Claire looked down at the floor, feeling so ashamed._

_She remembered her first day at the job. She had accidentally slipped and almost broke an expensive piece of equipment. She was lucky Dr. Elefun overlooked that and still hired her._

_Back at his home, Tenma quickly skimmed through his electronic phone book. He found "M" and glided his finger down the page. _

"_The Ministry of Science." He stopped his finger._

_The phone rang as he paced around his kitchen._

"_Hello. This is the Ministry of Science information desk. My name is Nancy, how may I assist you today?"_

"_Hello." He coughed and tried to make the highest pitched voice he could. _

"_I'd like to speak to… my... granddaughter… She works here." _

"_What is her name?"_

"_Cindy... Cindy Claire… She got the name from me… her granny..."_

"_Ok, ma'am, we will phone you into the desk upstairs."_

"_Thank you… deary..." Tenma bit his lip in shame._

"_Hello, I'm Geoffrey. How may I help you today?" A man spoke._

"_Hello." Tenma coughed, his throat hurting him from the voice._

"_Are you ok ma'am?"_

"_Ah.. yes… yes.. I'm just… SICK.. yes that's it.. I'm very ill and I'd like to talk to my granddaughter.. I may die soon. I need to talk to her immediately."_

"_Who is your granddaughter, ma'am?"_

"_Cindy Claire."_

"_We will send the line over to her as soon as possible."_

"_Thank you." Tenam coughed some more._

"_Hello? Grandma?! When did you get sick?!" Claire answered the phone._

"_I'm not-" Tenam spoke in the same voice. _

_He cleared his throat_

"_I'm not your grandmother." He spoke in his normal voice._

"_It's... you! I told you I'm not interested in you. Can't you leave me alone?"_

"_I... I can't… Ever since we met… I couldn't get my mind off of you."_

"_Stop messing with me."_

"_I'm serious."_

"_What do you mean? Why are you doing this to me?!"_

"_B-because… I think I... l…. love you…."_

_She hung up the phone, her heart was pounding. _

_Later on... her work shift had ended, she got into her car and raced home. _

_"I gotta hurry home, no time to waste tonight!" She thought._

I took a moment to realize what was going on.

"So you _don't _like him?" I asked.

"Well.. I just, I don't have time to date people, people take up my time that I could dedicate to my job... so to answer your question I _didn't _like him... but that answer could change..." Dr. Claire glanced at me again.

"So-"

"Back to the story." She interrupted my sentence.

_Dr. Claire opened the door to her house, she raced to her office to go start on her work._

_She sighed. _

_"I just gotta keep working... life is too short to worry about other people that seem to not have their life together like I do.. I just have to stop thinking about... him.." _

_Tenma laid in his bed, staring at the ceiling. _

"_Why?" He whispered to himself._

"_Everything I did. Everyday, it still affects me. Now this…. The weight on my chest just keeps building up.. Sometimes.. I just wish I was never born. That I don't exist. My mistakes keep coming back to bite me, no matter how much I try to change..."_

_He looked around at his walls. Collectable hunting knives and swords hung neatly from hooks and plaques. All shined and sharpened to perfection. _

"_If only humans could be fixed like that. Expelled of every imperfection. Never to show up the same again."_

_Tenma sat up and reached for a nearby sword._

"_The sword of General Li Yun III of Japan. He killed a thousand men with this sword, and yet it still shines like new. A sword of honor. For the one owning the sword, to be killed by their own weapon… especially one like this… especially a man of Japanese blood…. would be of great honor."_

_He took the sword out of its protective case made of high quality velvet. It gleamed in even the dim light of the room._

_He examined it then placed it in front of him._

_He slowly brought it up to his neck._

"_No.. Not today…"_

"_I don't deserve that honor.." He convinced himself. _

_He tossed the sword on the floor and cried into his pillow. _

I felt like dying right there and then.

It was too much

Why did my father act so much like me?

Because I would probably do the same thing someday...

Make that,

Any day.

_Dr. Claire was finishing up her work, it was close to midnight and her food was left hot in the microwave. _

_"What's today, Tuesday? Hmm... maybe I'll go visit my sister Quinn, that should keep me busy this weekend..." she thought, writing faster on the keyboard._

_"Say?" _

_She turned around in her office chair._

_There was an electronic phone book on the table nearby, she picked it up and swiped through the pages. _

_"Hmm.. maybe ill give a call to-..." she dialed a number on the page._

_She held the phone up to her ear and heard a ringing tone for a split second, then she heard a familiar voice._

_"Shoot!" She muttered. _

"_H-hello?" Tenma sniffled._

_"Uh- uh.." she deepened her voice._

_"S- sorry sir.. wrong number!" Dr. Claire hung up the phone._

_Tenma buried his face back into his pillow._

_"What did i just do?!" _

_Dr. Claire was slightly furious at herself, she's letting herself get off topic and forget work._

_But work came first anything else came last._

_Why was she doing this?_

_Could this be her changing?_

_It was all because of,_

_**Him.**_

_She reached for the phone again, but she hesitated._

_Something in her made her pick up the phone again and redial the number._

_She took in a deep breath as the phone began to ring._

"_Wrong number again..." Tenma said slowly. _

"_I suggest that you either try another number or get a phone book app." He sounded annoyed but depressed._

_"Uh..." Dr. Claire stuttered. _

"_Who is this? Is this a prank?"_

_"No..." she sighed._

_"Its Cindy, I'm... here to apologize..." _

"_Miss Claire?!" His voice cracked as it lightened a bit._

_"I'm sorry for being so rude to you, I'm just... not really street smart, you know... I prioritize work more than a social life.."_

"_No, no. No need to apologize. I have a very bad reputation… I deserve it for all the terrible things I've done… even when I try to fix it, I fail."_

_"N- no, you seem like a nice person, even better than what people tell me!" _

"_You don't have to lie because you pity me."_

_"What? N- no that's not what I meant! Ugh... this is harder than it sounds..." Dr. Claire sighed and shook her head. _

"_It's ok. I know i'm just some crazy freak. If you wanted to call me just to tell me to get off your back then you could just say so."_

_"W-what? If i wanted to get you off my back I would say so! I wouldn't just call you for nothing... because you know what, I don't call anyone so if i wanted to just blow you off I wouldn't call you?!" _

_He sighed. _

"_I'm sorry..."_

_"I- its okay... I'm just losing my mind..." Dr. Claire looked away and at her papers on her office table._

"_Haha.. you think _you're_ losing your mind..." Tenma glanced down at the sword and started to think about what he almost did._

_"Well what else do you call it?"_

"_I'd say they'd call it suiciiiii- I mean.. sounds like you're a workaholic..." He looked away from the sword and back at his pillow that had wet spots scattered across it._

_Dr. Claire laughed._

_"I have a bunch of papers I need to finish, a scientist work is never done, eh?" Dr. Claire smiled._

"_Ahh.. yes… The ministry really likes to pack on the paperwork, huh? I mean I think I would know 'cus I-... um… nevermind..." He started to sound enthusiastic but that went downhill._

_"Well it wasn't this much when I studied biology.. but I decided to change to robotics.. it kinda suits me better..."_

"_Yes. Robotics is a fine industry..." Tenma sat up in his bed._

_"Y- you worked in robotics?" Dr. Claire asked, she seemed amused._

"_Yes I did. I guess you haven't heard everything about me. Your boss, Elefun. He replaced me. "_

_"Uh, he did mention you.. but he- he said you were a crazy mad man..." _

"_Ah…. I guess I was... I may still be but I'm not sure anymore. I was going through a mid-life crisis then..."_

_There was a short period of silence._

_"Hey! Wait a second..." a thought clicked in Dr. Claire's mind._

_"You don't happen to know a kid by the name of Astro do you?" She seemed curious._

"_I.. uh… created him…."_

_"Wait... I'm confused.. Elefun said-" _

"_Said what?….."_

_"Something, different… Uh- uh... I can't say! But um... well its nice that you know him, he's a great kid, has potential..." _

"_Unfortunately I wouldn't know that because he hates me to death."_

_"That doesn't sound good..."_

"_I deserve it though… for all the things I've done to him….."_

_Dr. Claire looked surprised._

_"W- well uh... it doesn't matter! The past is the past! I'm sure it'll work out in the end..." _

"_I can't escape my past..." Tenma thought out loud._

_"What?" _

_Something in her told her to hang up the phone, to get back to work, to stop fooling around!_

_But she ignored it._

"_Oh.. nothing… I was just... thinking..."_

_"Oh! Hehe..." _

"_Are you sure you still want to talk? You said something about a lot of papers earlier, didn't you?"_

_"Oh that can wait... I got a few days.." Dr. Claire examined her fingernails. _

_"But you're welcome to come over whenever you like, just.. don't be creepy about it..." _

"_Really? Thank you so much for your kindness and hospitality. No one has really done anything like this for me in a long time..."_

_"Oh its nothing really... its just who I am.." Dr. Claire chuckled. _

"_Umm.. sorry about what I said earlier today… I sorta overreacted… "_

_"Uh... that's okay... you live and you learn, don't you?"_

"_I'm not sure if I meant it or not..."_

_"Haha you're funny... does it really matter?" _

"_But the last people I…. loved like this…." He sounded like he was starting to cry._

I feel terrible now..

How could I be so stupid?!

Yea he was a douche bag, and a stinky A-hole... but he was my father...

Why was I so mean to him?

Why did I do the things I did...

I had one job, to love him,

And I blew it.

_Why_?

"_Tenma… are you ok?"_

"_S-sorry… I just... maybe we can talk some other time..."_

_It sounded like he was trying to hang up the phone. He couldn't and he just let it drop to the floor._

"_Tenma….. please pick the phone back up..."_

Can someone do me a favor?

Kill me.

I can't take this, this is all because of me.

Gosh damnit, why am I so stupid!?

That's it,

When Dr. Claire is done telling the story...

I'm gonna go see Tenma.

"_Please… I'll help you through this." She started crying._

_There was no response. But you could hear him whimpering into his hands._

"_Tenma…. I'm not sure if I feel the same... but I do feel something." She put her hand on her chest._

"_You feel pity!" He snapped._

"_No…. it's not that..." She gazed around the room, she could hear a loud throbbing in her ears. _

"_D-don't lie to me…."_

_"I- I ..." _

_She sighed._

_"I never lie.. not to great people like you... not to people I love." _

_His heart skipped a beat._

"_H-how can you love someone like me?"_

_"Because its whats on the inside that counts..." _

"_Everyone hates me for my insides. Because I'm a terrible person. Because of what I did and didn't do…."_

_"Well then you know what, they're just too blind and stupid to see how great you are" she smiled even though tears were streaming down her face. _

"_I may sound silly… b-but… I wish you were here right now..."_

_"Well.. you can always stop by.. I have a kit-"_

_She remembered the dinner she left in the microwave._

_"Uh... I guess I must've left my dinner out.. silly me!" She laughed it off._

_She walked with the phone to the kitchen and removed her -what was once frozen- dinner out of the microwave. _

_"Hmmm.. I don't even know what they put in this crap! Oh well..." she placed the plastic tray on the counter. _

_She heard a small laugh on the phone, she smiled instantly at it. _

"_Th-thank you..." He picked up the phone._

_"N- no problem" her voice was muffled by the food in her mouth. _

"_You wouldn't happen to be free this Saturday, would you?" He asked nervously._

_"Uh... well I was gonna go visit my sister, Quinn... but, I'll save that for next weekend..." _

"_You'd do that?"_

_"Sure! No biggie... she can wait..." Dr. Claire laughed. _

"_Thank you Miss Cla-… I mean Cindy." He sniffled._

_"Oh its nothing... I really don't deserve your thanks..." _

"_I don't deserve your kindness…."_

_Dr. Claire blushed. _

_"Well of course you do!" She tried to eat and talk at the same time. _

"_Ah.. I…." He blushed._

_"Huh?" _

"_I just… don't know what to say… I'm just so grateful ."_

_"Ahhh I see.. same here.." _

_Tenma looked at the sword again. He got up and picked it up off of the carpet._

_He looked around at his walls and all the knives and daggers. _

"_I really need to get rid of these… put them in the basement." He thought._

"_You think we can talk later? I just wanna work on something…. And I'm sure you have plenty of paperwork to do."_

_"Sure thing... I guess i'll see you, Saturday if I'm not mistaken?" She asked. _

"_Ah.. yes… how about this fancy restaurant I've been wanting to go to?"_

_"Ooh fancy, I've never really eaten out before... I usually eat alone at home..." _

"_Oh, well I'm sure you'll like it."_

_"Then it's a deal!" Dr. Claire chuckled. _

_Tenma laughed._

_"I guess I better hang up then.. I'll see you around.. uh... I forgot your name... sorry.." _

_"You can just call me Bill…. It's a nickname."_

_"Hehe.. okay, I'll see you around then Bill!" Dr. Claire took another bite of her frozen meal._

"_Bye.. Cindy… I… I... l-love you..." He felt butterflies in his stomach._

_Dr. Claire blushed again. _

_"I- I..."_

_"I love you too" she smiled, her face was still red and she could still hear loud throbs in her ears. _

"_B-bye. Talk to you tomorrow…." He could feel his face heat up._

_"O-okay..." She slowly hung up the phone._

_"So I guess I have a date on Saturday?" She said to herself._

_"But uh..." she looked down at what she was wearing._

_"I think I'm gonna need a new wardrobe..." _

_Tenma looked at the sword._

"_There is no honor in killing yourself, is there?... Well, this sword is useless to me now."_

"_Time to clean up." He started to take things off of the walls._

"_I've forgotten what it feels like to be happy. To be excited..." he thought as he gathered things in his arms and placed them on his bed. _

"_I like it."_

That was one of the most beautiful stories i've ever heard.. besides a story I told my language arts class about me and brianna for a project, brought the whole class to tears.

But that's a story for another time...

"Thanks." I said to Dr. Claire.

All the sudden the power came back on.

"But there's more." She said.

"But I have to go visit someone really quick, you can tell me when I get back."

"Fine... but come back as soon as you can!" Dr. Claire called to me as I left her house.

She slowly shook her head.

"That boy..." She chuckled.

This time I had to go visit Tenma, not only to apologize to him but to hear more of the story... because two heads are better than one.

Or at least that's what you pathetic humans tell me...

I walked up to his door, my whole body ached and I felt like throwing up (whatever that means...). I lightly tapped on the door, hoping slightly that he won't answer.

But to my luck,

He did.

"Tobio!... I mean… Astro… What are you doing here?"

My mouth couldn't say anything, I just walked up to him and gave him a hug, not a single word spoken.

"A-Astro..." He sounded surprised but also relieved.

"I-I'm so sorry..." I tried to say.

He put his hands on my shoulders and got down to my height.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm s-sorry for being so mean, for c-causing you so much pain and trouble... I'm just... sorry!"

Tears streamed down my face, I enjoyed it, though.

"Astro…. It's not your fault."

He hugged me.

"Yes it is... its all my fault! I'm just too stupid to notice.." I whimpered

"No.. It was me. It was my fault from the start."

"N-no, you were the greatest father I could ever ask for, it was me who blew it, big time."

"Astro… Y-you're freezing."

"I- its cold outside, what do you expect?"

"Come inside."

He let me in and he gave me a blanket and a cup of steaming hot chocolate.

"T- thanks." I said, taking a sip of the hot cocoa.

"Why did you come here so suddenly?" He was sitting in the seat across from me with a cup of tea in his hand.

"Well.. i went to visit Dr. Claire to go thank her while the power was out and she told me this great story.. I'm sure you know it.."

"Hmmm. Cindy…. yes." He took a sip of his tea.

"Cindy? Ooh... never mind." I almost got thrown off for a moment.

"Where did she leave you off?"

"Uh..."

Let me just say that if you DARE mistake me for a computer that remembers EVERYTHING, prepare to get your ass beat because you're DEAD. WRONG.

I tried to remember where we left off.

"Uh..."

I looked around and saw a cardboard box. A long, black stick was sticking out and resting on the wall next to the box. It had Japanese engraved in gold on the side. It seemed to say "General" but the rest was cut off by the box.

I pointed to it.

"I remember something like that in the story..." I said.

"Oh..." He looked almost pale when he saw the sword.

"I can see why you came to say sorry…." He took another sip of his tea.

"I just don't want to see you become like me.. I'm a terrible wreck, and I don't want the same for you..." I sighed.

"Don't say things like that, Astro. I was a wreck long before you ever were..."

"Dad..."

He looked me straight in the eye with an almost sad look.

"P- please, just let me win so we can go back to pretending to be happy again... I liked that..."

He nodded.

"I assume she left off after... that phone call..."

"I think so.. but my memory is messed up, so i might be wrong, as usual..."

Tenma smirked.

"Let's begin, then."

_Later on, Dr. Claire finished her papers and went to bed, there were loud screeches and noises that kept her awake, so she didn't really sleep well._

_Tenma had moved all of his collection. He laid in his bed staring at the ceiling and the bare walls. He couldn't help but think of her. He didn't get any sleep._

_The next morning, Dr. Claire got ready for work, she wore the same white lab coat with a black shirt, denim jeans and casual shoes._

_Her style never changed._

_She left her house and went on her usual walk to work._

_Kaitlyn and Emily were walking along to the park again._

"_Did you see how Jump caught that frisbee yesterday?! OH MAH GAWSH IT WAS AWESOME! I'm totally gonna get him to go higher this time!"_

"_Kate.. calm down." Emily giggled as Kaitlyn skipped down the sidewalk._

"_We should do this everyday for the rest of the summer!" Kaitlyn grinned._

"_I think that's a little too much." _

_The two girls giggled._

_Kaitlyn looked to the other side of the street. _

"_DR. CLAIRE!" She screamed, waving her hands around._

_Dr. Claire looked around and saw them. She turned the opposite way and walked sideways, hoping that they would ignore her._

_"Gotta get to work!" She thought_

_She felt a tap on her shoulder._

_"GAH!" Dr. Claire gasped and shuttered._

_She turned around._

"_Dr. Claire!" Kaitlyn smiled. She was holding Emily's arm._

"_Oh.. Hi... you... two…." She laughed nervously._

_"What's wrong? You seem quite nervous?" Emily asked_

"_I'm just in a rush to get to work. I was late yesterday." She started walking._

_The girls walked with her._

"_There's more, isn't there?" Kaitlyn smirked._

_"U- uh, of course not! I'm a very busy scientist, I have no time to fool around and do other things!" _

_Kaitlyn and Emily raised their eyebrows._

"_There's definitely more." Kaitlyn said._

"_I can tell by the look on your face..._

"_You're LOVE STRUCK." She squealed._

_"I told you girls already that there is nothing wrong, now if you excuse me I need to get to work before I get late and yelled at again..." Dr. Claire sighed and quickened her pace._

"_Don't deny it!"_

_"Deny what?!" Dr. Claire tried to ignore the girls as much as possible._

"_You're in LOVE! That's what!"_

_"Why should YOU care anyways?!" _

"_PFT!" Kaitlyn laughed hysterically._

_"Its not funny Kaitlyn! Now leave me alone and let me go to work!"_

"'_But us woman have to stick together."_

_"Whatever..." Dr. Claire walked away from the girls and on to the ministry._

"_Don't ignore me, you turd! I'll get you to spill the beans eventually!" Kaitlyn yelled out to her._

_"Kaitlyn.. I don't think that's such a great idea... she might not be telling us for a reason..." Emily said._

"_Emi, when you're my age, you'll understand."_

_"We're only 3 years apart?!"_

"_But I'm 2 years closer to womanhood than you are. I'm already technically a woman."_

_Dr. Claire made it into Dr. Elefun's office again, she made it on time. _

"_Hello, Cindy." Dr. Elefun said with a big grin._

_Hearing Elefun call her "Cindy" reminded her of Tenma.._

_Because not a lot of people called her by her first name._

_Tenma walked sluggishly out of his room. His body was tired, but his mind felt refreshed. He walked into the kitchen and got himself a cup of coffee as he stretched._

"Do you always drink coffee?" I asked.

"No, why?"

"Because i do" Astro giggled.

Tenma took another sip of his tea as he quietly chuckled.

"OK im done, continue?"

Tenma rolled his eyes.

_The day went by smoothly, nothing major occurred, and everything that happen didn't seem to cause much trouble. _

(END OF CHAPTER ONE!)


	2. Complications

Power Outage Storytelling

By: Emily the Artist and Kaitlyn Draws Manga

**Chapter 2: Complications**

_It was nearing the end of the day and Dr. Claire was packing up to go home._

_"You have a great day doctor!" She waved goodbye to Dr. Elefun and left the ministry._

_She got into her car and drove off._

_Tenma was sitting in his living room, reading a book as usual. He never really had much to do since he left the ministry._

_His phone sat next to him on the endtable. He glanced at it._

"_Should I call her?..." He thought._

"_No, no. Don't pressure her, Tenma…." He looked back at his book._

_His eyes kept straying over to the phone._

"_No… I can't…. What if she's busy?..."_

_As Claire was driving she kept looking down at the steering wheel. She almost got hit._

"_Why can't I stop thinking about him?" She said, trying to keep her eyes on the road._

"_I'm not even sure if I really love him."_

"_Maybe I just need to hear his voice again…. His deep but calming voice." She looked down at her phone that was in her purse in the passenger seat._

"_Maybe I should wait…."_

_Dr. Claire continued on driving home._

_She finally made it to her door and unlocked it… She threw her things on the ground and went over to her desk._

"Hmm..." I let out a small thought.

"Did you say something?" Tenma looked at me.

"Uh.. uh.. nothing! I'm uh.. just a teensy bit lost..." I blushed.

"What do you mean?"

"Never mind..." I rolled my eyes and let him finish telling the story.

_Tenma was at the other side of the room, facing the wall with his head between his knees._

"_I... I just can't call her... not yet..." He kept looking back at his phone._

_Dr. Claire finished a few things in her office, her desk was neatly arranged._

_"I have to put my Ten- I mean my dinner in the microwave"_

_Dr. Claire sighed._

"_Maybe I should just give him a call already."_

"_I can't take this! I have to call her!" Tenma ran over to his phone._

_He quickly dialed it._

_Dr. Claire picked up her phone and looked through her recent contacts. On top was "Tenma"._

_Suddenly her phone rang as she was about to press the name._

"_Hello?"_

"_Uh… uh... Hi Cindy..." Tenma blushed._

"_Oh Bill, I was just about to call you..."_

"_So.. ah.. how are you?"_

"_I'm good. Just finished doing some work. And how are you?"_

"_Fine. Just doing the usual... sitting around the house reading and watching TV."_

_"Oh I love reading, I read books all the time!"_

"_Really? What kinds do you like?"_

_"Hmmm... well I like to read all kinds of books, I don't really have a specific genre..."_

"_It's always good to have a variety… I prefer science fiction."_

_"Interesting..." _

_The two talked about books and robotics through the night. They shared their giggles and gasps._

_The next few days went by fairly quickly. They seemed to be about the same. Dr. Claire would go to work and after finishing some things at home, she would talk to Tenma._

_Friday was a little different, though. _

_Kaitlyn and Emily were walking to the park again. This time Uran was walking with them. She had Jump on a leash. _

"_Guess who I see?" Kaitlyn smirked at Emily._

"_I don't know... Batman?" She joked._

"_No, silly. I see Dr. Claire again."_

_Emily facepalmed._

"_Well, come on lets go talk to her again. This time I'm gonna get her to say it."_

_The three girls made it across to the other side of the street._

_Dr. Claire was walking, looking up at the clear blue sky with a strange looking smile on her face._

"_Hey!" Kaitlyn yelled out._

_Dr. Claire looked over and waved at them with a big grin._

"_You seem to be in an awfully good mood." Emily smiled._

"_Yeah..." Claire blushed._

"_I've seen you before! You're that lady from Dr. Elefun's office!" Uran popped up in front of Dr. Claire with Jump in her arm. She pointed her index finger up at Claire's face._

"_You must be Astro's little sister! Nice to meet you!" Dr. Claire patted Uran's head and continued walking._

"_Hmmm. I just know she's in love! Just look at the way she smiles and ignores Uran's obnoxiousness." Kaitlyn thought out loud._

"_That __**is**__ pretty impressive how she just walked by her." Emily said._

"_Hey Dr. Claire!" Kaitlyn caught up to her and walked besides her._

"_How ya been?" She smirked._

"_I've been doing great!" She smiled softly._

"_Hmm. So what have you been doing these days?" Kaitlyn tried to sound as casual as possible._

"_Oh nothing exciting..." She looked up at the sky again and seemed to be daydreaming._

"_Just work. And... I have been talking to... him… everyday." She sighed pleasantly at the thought._

"_Who's him?"_

"_Just a friend... a really good friend… Feels like he's more than just a friend though..."_

_Kaitlyn's jaw dropped._

"_I knew you were in love! You just admitted it!" She laughed loudly._

"_What!? I didn't say that!" Claire snapped out of her daze._

"_Come on. Give up. I already know!"_

"_You can't possibly know! I bet you didn't know we're going out tomorrow evening!" She folded her arms._

_Her face went blank when she realized what she said._

"_W-wait! nevermind! I never said that, ok!"_

_Kaitlyn stared at her._

"_You're going on a date?!" She blurted out._

"_Uh…. ah..."_

"_Emily! She's in love! I told you! She's even going on a date!" Kaitlyn grabbed Emily's arm and started jumping up and down._

"_Wait… What? Really!?" Emily seemed surprised._

"_Yeah really!"_

_Emily gasped._

"_What are you going to wear? Are you going anywhere special? What's his name? Is he hot? Does he wear glasses?" She rambled on._

_Dr. Claire facepalmed. "Slow down..."_

"_I guess I have no choice but to answer your questions now that you know… Say them again please... slowly this time. One question each."_

"_What are ya gonna wear?" Uran asked._

"_I'm not sure..." She sighed._

"_Please don't tell me that's all you ever wear." Kaitlyn pointed to her lab coat._

"_Ah... no... well…. maybe..." She blushed._

"_Yeah... we're gonna have to do something about that..."_

"_Where are you going?" Emily asked starry eyed._

"_A fancy restaurant… I don't know exactly which one. I wouldn't know of any anyway…. I've never been to one."_

"_You do know some etiquette, right?" Kaitlyn put her hands on her hips._

"_I'm not sure. Maybe a little."_

"_Well don't worry. I can teach ya."_

"_And what's his name?" Kaitlyn smirked._

"_I've told you enough..." Dr. Claire started to walk away._

"_W-What?! Where ya going?!"_

"_To work. I'm already late enough. I'm going to have to run there to be on time."_

"_But we need to get you ready for your date!"_

"_I don't need any help. I'm fully capable of getting myself ready for my date."_

"_Yeah sure…. We're helping you."_

_Dr. Claire sighed again._

"_Ok. But can't this wait until tomorrow?"_

"_Nope." Uran popped up in front of her again._

"_But I have work today…."_

"_I'll use some doctor terms. You're condition is declining and you need extra care. It will take a few days to bring you to a stable, optimal state." Kaitlyn remarked._

"_First off, I'm not that kind of doctor. Second… I have work and I just can't... not go."_

"_Kaitlyn, are you fully aware of what you're getting yourself into into?" Emily tapped Kaitlyn's shoulder and suggested._

"_Yeah, Emi. I am. Come on doc, can't you call off for today?"_

"Haha, Kaitlyn is so stupid, and now i have _proof_ for the next time I see her!" I laughed.

"You'd be surprised at how smart she really is. Unfortunately I learned the hard way..."

"Oh yeah, how would you know…. you're talking to a mastermind here smarter than YOU are! geez, have some humor!" I folded my arms and snorted.

"Respect your father, Astro."

"Bleh, i don't live with you…"

"That doesn't mean you shouldn't respect me. Or Kaitlyn." He scolded.

"Hmmm" I pretended to think.

"Your words can't hurt me as much as i hurt myself, dad.. the both of us know that very well.. there's no point in scolding me…"

"I'm not trying to scold you, I'm trying to make you into a decent person."

"Well then, can you _stop _… because we all know _thats_ not gonna happen… I'm not gonna let it… but don't tell Brianna, she might get scared…"

"Don't say anything else, Tenma. He'll grow out of it." Tenma whispered to himself.

"_Ah... I don't know."_

"_Just call Elefun. Tell him you're sick. If he finds out you lied, I'll put all blame on myself." Kaitlyn looked serious._

"_Now you know I don't appreciate lying, or liars… i'm not doing it!" Dr. Claire folded her arms._

"_Do you want your 'friend' to be disappointed because you couldn't pull off the date?"_

"_What do i 'couldn't pull of the date' nothings impossible for me… i can pull it off myself!"_

"_Here's a scenario. Nice lady goes to a high class restaurant with her date. But she's dressed in a lab coat, eats like a pig, and sits with her feet on the table."_

"_Hmm… you do have a point.. but i like what i'm wearing, its comfy, fits me correct… and its all I can afford…."_

"_Comfy? Being a girl is disregarding comfort so she can look decent."_

"_But i'm not much of a shopper okay… i do things my own way, a way i enjoy.. now if you'll excuse me… i gotta get to work and get ready for my date, alone. At home." Dr. Claire walked more._

"_Hmph. Well if you don't want to accept our help, then so be it. But you'll regret it." Kaitlyn pouted._

"See? Dr. Claire is smart! gosh, i think theres a song that describes her… i forgot what its called, but i dont like it, theres no guitars or rock music in the background…" I tilted my head and blinked my eyes.

"You children are so strange these days. What does music have to do with any of this?"

"It's the lyrics ya old fart! ahhh, i just remembered, i left my phone… at home." I looked ashamed and blushed lightly.

"Just let me continue the story. It's almost done."

"Nuuu! I forbid you! Must. Drink. Water. And. Pee. First!" I got up from the couch and walked to the kitchen.

"Did he forget that he doesn't need to pee?"

"Noo.. uh… its a long story, ill explain another time.. but i'm sure Elefun will tell you if you bribe him…" I blushed and opened the fridge.

Tenma took a quick gaze at what Astro was wearing, a look of confusion appeared on his face.

"What exactly _are _you wearing?" he asked.

"Uh… band merch…" I made an "eh" face and shrugged my shoulders.

"And theres no water in here, what kind of person keeps no water in their fridge?! I have such pity and disgrace on you, father!" I pretended to sound angry.

"Take it from the tap. The plastic they use in those bottles can kill a human."

"No, im too lazy, im just gonna take this brown glass bottle instead, is this root beer?"

"It's beer. But not the root kind."

"GAH!" I dropped the bottle.

"WTF?! Are you tryin ta _kill_ me?! The alcohol in this will kill me!" I felt scared.

"I didn't tell you to take it. It's for me." Tenma leaned against the doorway to the kitchen.

"Well now its on the floor, I can mop it and you can drink from the mop" I smirked, closing the fridge.

"You're being very sarcastic tonight, aren't you."

"Whaa? I'm like this _everyday _just ask my-

"Oh, you don't know about _him_… never mind…" I shook my head and tried to forget what I was about to say.

"Who's _he_?" Tenma asked.

"Uh- Uh…" I began to stutter.

I walked over the glass that was left on the floor, I wanted to walk away from him.

He shouldn't know about my twin.

He can't.

Why?

Because I won't let him.

"Hmm?" Tenma seemed interested in what my response would be.

Now I could say 3 things:

1- its your fault, i'm gay.

2- its none of your beeswax.

3- uh… hi.

Or i could use all three?

"Uh…. It's no one really.. just a, _friend_." I said to him.

Yes, a friend… thats it!

You see, i really am smart!

"Hmm… whatever, I need to finish this story, its getting late and I need a bath" Tenma walked back into the living room.

I giggled. ((THAT WOULD BE HILARIOUS THO~ Kate)) ((im keeping this, its funny!~ Emily))

"Now where were we?" Tenma asked.

"Oh wait, now I gotta pee, be right back!" I stormed out of the living room and into the bathroom.

I came back an hour later….

"What took ya so long?!" Tenma exclaimed.

"I told you, you gotta bribe Dr. Elefun.. I can't say… and i also washed my hands so…. HA! in ya face!" ((lol i almost spelt 'bride' that would've been uber awkward! xD ~Emily))

Tenma sighed.

"Whatever, lets just get this piece of crap over with… I'm getting sleepy.." He yawned, I sat on the couch again.

_After work, Dr. Claire went home and decided to rest on her couch before she was going to work on her papers._

"_Hmm.. I need to go get something to wear for tomorrow, but i have all these papers to do and i have my dinner in the freezer…"_

_She got up and looked in her walk-in closet. It was full of black shirts, jeans, labcoats, and a few sweaters. There was a skirt shoved in the back, but it was a little too small on her._

"_Ohhh, why can't people just wear lab coats to fancy places…." Dr. Claire sighed._

"_Maybe I do need their help..." she gazed around the closet._

"_Ahh… ill give them a call after dinner, my frozen meatloaf is waiting for me!" she walked to the kitchen and pulled out her frozen dinner, undid the packaging and heated it up in the microwave._

_Her cell phone rang._

"_Hmmm, now who could that be?" She smirked._

_She picked it up._

"_Hello, sweetie!" She said with a sweet voice._

"_Wat…." A young girl's voice said._

"_Uh…."_

_This didn't sound like Tenma._

"_I ain't your boyfriend, Dr. Claire."_

"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! she thought it was **YOU ** hahaha, i cant feel my stomach anymore! help me!" I kept laughing so hard, my chest hurt.

Tenma facepalmed. He tried to keep from laughing.

"_Then who are you?"_

"_Kaitlyn."_

"_And Emily!"_

"_And me, Uran!"_

_Dr. Claire facepalmed._

"_Ugh, why are you girls calling i told you-"_

_There was a loud beep from the microwave._

"_And my frozen meatloaf is done, i'm gonna have to call you back…" she laughed nervously._

"_But wait!" Kaitlyn yelled out._

"_I- I'm sorry, my dinner.. I need to eat it!"_

"_But I sneezed…."_

I suddenly sneezed.

"Da hell?! Is Kaitlyn trying to mess with me, cuz i'll kick her ass if she is…" I folded my arms and pouted.

"Astro!" Tenma scolded.

"Sorry, I can't hold my tongue anymore…"

"Don't make me hold it for you..."

"pffft.. eeeyeaaahhh, sure thing _**DAD**_!"

"I'm being serious!"

"Yeah, and im being serious about kicking her butt… ya got a problem!" I gave my dad a sarcastic look.

"I have pliers and duct tape in the kitchen. Don't think I'll really do it."

I could stand up to him if i felt like it.

this was one of those times….

"Okay then…. I _dare _you to do it…"

"Eh. I'm not in the mood."

"Exactly, coward…."

"Let's just continue the story."

"Just admit it, dad… you would never do it to me!"

"I'm not looking for a fight Astro."

"And I'm not looking for you to insult my potty mouth, now lets just continue the damn story!" I pointed at him with an angry expression.

He rolled his eyes.

"_What does sneezing have to do with anything?..."_

"_There's this old saying that you sneeze if someone out of your sight is talking about you."_

"_But my mom said it was if you're ears turn red or something like that." Emily butted in._

"_Does it really matter Emily? I know she was talking about us."_

"_I wasn't talking about you guys!" Dr. Claire walked over to her microwave and opened it._

"_Yeah right."_

_Dr. Claire grabbed the plastic tray, it was super hot!_

"_GAH!" She dropped the tray and the food in it splattered everywhere and made a huge mess._

"_Oooohhh." She sounded worried._

"_I don't know what just happened but whatever it was you deserve it for lying to me."_

"_Ugh, now i gotta heat something else up!" Dr. Claire walked over to her freezer._

_She looked around and tried to find another frozen meal._

_There was nothing._

"_Hmm… I guess I need to go grocery shopping…" She sighed._

"_You need to go clothes shopping too. FOR YOUR DATE."_

"_Uh- uh! Food is WAY more important than clothes!" Dr. Claire snapped_

"_Well, you're going to eat tomorrow, aren't you?" Uran asked._

"_Y-yes, but I'll figure something out, myself"_

"_Good luck with that." Kaitlyn stuck her tongue out._

"_Thanks!" She smiled._

"_I was being sarcastic…."_

"_Ooh.."_

"_Please just let us help you." Uran said in the sweetest voice she could._

"_Ooh, I don't know… I mean… uh…"_

"_PLEASEEE." The girls pleaded together_

"_But my style is a little different… I think I can figure out what to wear on my own time."_

"_You don't have to hate something because it looks good on you."_

"_What do you mean?" She walked over to the stool by her counter and sat in it._

"_Well we can find you something that looks great on you and that you like at the same time."_

"_Hmmm…. Oh fine, but you owe me dinner for this, i'm all out of frozen food!" Dr. Claire folded her arms._

"_Hehe. No problem." Kaitlyn giggled._

"_We can go to Burger Queen afterwards!" Emily sounded excited._

"_I'm talking about right now…"_

"_Oh, alright. Not that hungry though..." Kaitlyn looked down at the pile of candy wrappers the girls left on the ground._

"_Then I guess its a 'no'."_

"_No, no. We can go right now."_

"_Oh fine! I'll go get my shoes!" Dr. Claire rolled her eyes and walked over to her room to look for her shoes._

"_YAY!" Kaitlyn and Emily jumped up and down in excitement._

_Dr. Claire knocked on the door of Astro's house, Kaitlyn opened it._

"Do you really have to tell me this part, I was there-"

"Oh wait, reject that, I was visiting Ken.. nevermind…." I giggled, blushing lightly.

Tenma rolled his eyes.

"Could you stop rolling your eyes at me…. its making me feel uncomfortable…" I looked innocently at him.

Tenma rolled his eyes again.

"Can you not?! Im being serious!" I was cross.

"Ok ok. It's kinda an adult thing. Sorta hard to control sometimes."

"Your lucky I'm in a good mood!" I folded my arms.

Tenma sighed.

"Lets just get back to the story. Try not to interrupt so much."

"I'm sorry, it comes with the package, deal with it…"

"_Hi Dr. Claire!" Kaitlyn smiled._

"_Hello Kaitlyn, I came as soon as I could." Dr. Claire looked over Kaitlyn's shoulder._

"_Where's Astro?" She asked._

"_He's at a friend's house." Uran walked up to the door._

"_Ooh, I see… Its been forever since I've seen the little sprout!" Dr. Claire chuckled._

"_He'd kill you if you said that to his face." Emily giggled._

"I would!" I snorted.

"_Well. Shall we go?" Kaitlyn asked, she had a small bag on her back._

"_Uh.. I guess…" Dr. Claire shrugged her shoulders ._

"_Come on! Let's go!" Uran ran out of the door happily. She skipped down the walkway to the car._

"_Wait, who's gonna drive?!"_

"_Me..." Kaitlyn slowly raised her hand._

_Dr. Claire smiled. _

"_Why is she smiling?" Kaitlyn whispered to Emily._

"_I think It's because she doesn't have to drive…" Emily whispered back._

"_Adults are weird…." Kaitlyn got into the car._

"_So where are we gonna head to first?" Dr. Claire asked._

"_You said you were hungry didn't you?" Kaitlyn buckled her seatbelt._

"_Ah yes, I was hungry…." You could hear a rumbling sound from the backseat._

"_Sounds more like you _are_." Emily looked back._

_Kaitlyn and Uran laughed hysterically._

"_Burger Queen it is." Kaitlyn started the car._

_They made it to the fast food restaurant and got out of the car. Emily, Kaitlyn, And Claire were too shy to order their food so Uran did it for them. ((imagine us hiding behind the counter, peeking our eyes up xD ~kate))_

"_Sure thing, That'll be $18.45!" The cashier smiled at Uran._

_Dr. Claire took out $20 and handed it to him._

"_Thanks"_

_Everyone sat down at a nearby table. Kaitlyn carried the trays of food._

"_Mmm.. looks yummy!" Emily licked her lips._

"Can we skip this part, its making me hungry…"

"I'll go through it quickly. There's a point to it."

"Huh? I can't hear you over the sound of my rumbling stomach…."

Tenma sighed.

"Let's go into the kitchen _AGAIN_ and make you a sandwich."

"I don't eat sandwiches.. I don't eat at all!"

"Oh yeah..."

"I'm serious… I refuse to do so…" I folded my arms.

"You don't need human food anyway."

"Yeah sure…. thats not the point… I'm refusing the sandwich, but I'll take a piece of bread…"

"Fine."

We walked into the kitchen as Tenma continued the story.

_Dr. Claire picked up her burger and went in to take a big bite out of it._

_Kaitlyn looked up from her chicken sandwich to see Dr. Claire stuffing half the sandwich in her face._

"_Woah there, Miss Piggy." Kaitlyn grabbed the other side of the burger and pulled it out of Claire's mouth._

"_Hey! What are you doing?! I was trying to eat that!"_

"_Well you're not going to eat it like that."_

"_What do you care?"_

"_You can't do this at your date."_

"_Ah... Uh... But..." She stuttered_

"_But nothin'. You need to learn some etiquette."_

_Dr. Claire sighed._

"_First off, you can't get anything on you or your hands." Kaitlyn took the wrapper and covered half of the burger with it. She handed it back to Dr. Claire._

"_Okay.. now what?"_

"_Take small bites. It's not ladylike to look like a chipmunk with cheeks full of half-chewed food. Plus you could choke or lose your appetite too quickly."_

_Dr. Claire tried to copy what Kaitlyn had described to her to do…. she didn't really do too well._

"_Ah... you got some food on your face and the bites were a little too big."_

"_Does it really matter how big the bites are?"_

"_The bigger the bite the more you chew like a cow._

"_Just watch me." Kaitlyn picked up her sandwich and took a small bite out of it. She sat up straight and her elbows were off the table._

_The girls talked for an hour about the different sizes of the forks and knives and what they are used for, how to properly use a napkin, and anything else a well educated woman should know._

"Can I have my bread now?" I asked.

The glass and beer were still scattered on the floor, i almost tripped on a large piece of glass.

"Be careful, Astro." Tenma handed him a peice of bread.

I took a nibble from it.

"Here you go! I'm full..." I handed the rest of it back

Tenma looked at me like I was crazy.

"I guess I'll have to finish this. I'm not wasting anymore bread."

"Well its not my fault i have a small appetite!"

We walked back into the living room.

"I think i'm getting tired…. lets just finish this thing so i can go home and take a nap" I rested my head on a throw pillow on the couch.

"If you _would_ just let me finish…." Tema thought out loud.

"I told ya, it comes with da package, now keep going old fart!"

_Kaitlyn stretched as they all walked back out to the car._

"_Where to next?" Emily asked._

_Kaitlyn looked back at Dr. Claire with a sly look on her face._

"_Oh, dear god." Claire facepalmed._

_They arrived at the mall._

"_Ahh. The main hub for the typical American shopping experience. Assorted stores and bright open space. The smell of food. People walking and chatting as they search for a new fad… I can't stand it..." Kaitlyn said as she parked the car._

"_Ooooh, i love the mall, especially hot topics, that store is da bomb!" Emily exclaimed._

"_Ugh.. I don't like having to shop.. all the dissapointment when barely anything fits you right." Kaitlyn leaned her head back and sluggishly got out of the car._

"_But I don't mind if I'm shopping for someone else."_

"_Can we get some candy? I want some food! No I want candy! Actually I want a smoothie!" Uran ran around in circles in the parking lot._

"_Maybe we shouldn't have let her get coffee at Burger Queen..." Emily tried to calm her down._

"_Eh. She'll crash eventually." Kaitlyn started walking towards the entrance._

_They walked through the mall until a particular store caught Dr. Claire's eye._

"_What about that one?" She asked._

"_We're not going to a pharmaceutical technician apparel store." Kaitlyn said looking the opposite way._

"_No... look." Emily pointed over._

"_Ah! That one seems good!"_

_There were nice looking dresses and skirts with blouses displayed in the window._

"_Doc's got some good taste." Kaitlyn nudged Dr. Claire with her elbow as they walked in._

_Emily walked over to some black gowns._

"_These are nice..." She shuffled through them._

"_Why don't you go pick a few." Kaitlyn said to Claire._

"_Ah.. ok.." She slowly walked over and shifted through them._

"_Uhh…. I'm not sure if I like these."_

"_Come on! You gotta like at least one! These are SUPER pretty!" Emily was dazzled by them._

"_Don't be nervous. Nobody's gonna judge." Kaitlyn put her hand on Dr. Claire's shoulder._

"_Well… I really like this one..." She held up a sparkly black dress. It was short up front and flowed out to a long back._

_All three girls stared at it in awe._

"_You gotta try that on!" Kaitlyn pushed Claire and the dress over to the dressing rooms._

"_Ok, ok. Just calm down." She chuckled._

_Emily Kaitlyn and Uran waited outside the room as Dr. Claire slipped the dress on._

"_Do you girls need any assistance?" A woman that worked there walked up to them._

_They looked up at her._

"_No, we're just waiting for a friend." Emily smiled._

"_I'm done… I think I kinda like it!"_

_They all turned their heads around._

"What time is it?" I asked.

"It's only 9:30"

"Really? gosh, something must be wrong then.. I'm not usually tired at this time.."

"A really good story can put someone to sleep easily. You used to knock out in minutes when you were a baby. Made it very easy to... put you... to sleep." Tenma looked down.

"Yeah, well now I go to bed at 12 in the afternoon… happy?"

"Ah... sure..."

"Really? I thought for sure you'd say its not healthy for me.."

I wanted to get the point across to him.

I've changed, _completely_.

But he doesn't seem to get it….

He doesn't realize it…

I- I can't sleep

_S- stop!_

_NOOOOOOO!_

I closed my eyes.

But the story didn't stop for me…

Because Tenma kept telling it, even though he knew I had fallen asleep.

I dreamed the story. It was kinda weird.. but I got a better feel for it.

I felt as though it actually helped me realize something...

"_Holy…."_

"_Cow..."_

_Kaitlyn and Emily's jaws dropped to the floor._

_Dr. Claire turned around looking at the dress. It fit her almost perfectly and the sparkles seemed to lighten her face just right._

"_You look gorgeous!" Kaitlyn walked up to Claire._

"_But something's not right…."_

_Kaitlyn walked behind her and took her hair out of the bun it was in._

_She walked to the front of Claire and slid her glasses off._

"_PERF!"_

"_Ahh, but I can't see!" Dr. Claire complained._

"_We can get you contacts!" Uran beamed_

"_Con- What?!" Dr. Claire took a double take. _

"_Yeah contacts so you can see."_

"_But I like my glasses!" Dr. Claire blushed and chuckled._

"_Fine. We'll compromise." Kaitlyn pouted._

"_Thank you." Dr. Claire smiled._

"_Lets go get some jewelery!" Emily ran over to the earrings._

"_Uh… I'm not so sure about that I've never worn-" Dr. Claire tried to stop Emily, but she kept running faster._

"_Jewelery..." Dr. Claire sighed when Emily finally made it._

"_You get used to it." Kaitlyn said._

"_You'll be so focused on your date, you'll forget you're wearing it." She winked._

"_Oh I suppose I can compromise…" Dr. Claire rolled her eyes._

_She and Kaitlyn laughed._

_They spent most of the night going to other stores to get shoes, a coat, and other things they thought Dr. Claire would need for the next night._

"_That was actually kinda fun." Dr. Claire smiled as she walked out of the mall with large bags in her arms._

"_See, thats the spirit!" Emily threw a fist high in the air and winked._

"_Maybe we went a little overboard." Kaitlyn almost lost her balance carrying many other bags._

"_But It's for a good cause Kait, this girls NEEDED to go shopping, when was the last time you went shopping Claire?" Emily turned to the girls._

"_Uhh… the last time, if I'm not mistaken, would be… when i got hired at the ministry in the field of biology.."_

"_So like 50 years ago?" Kaitlyn chuckled._

_Uran and Emily tried not laugh._

"_HEY! I'm not that old!" Dr. Claire snapped._

"_I know. I'm just messin with ya."_

"_Oh… okay." Dr. Claire laughed._

_The girls got into the car and drove off to Dr. Claire's house._

"_Thanks so much, girls." Claire said._

_They helped her carry the bags into her house._

"_No problem, Doc!" Kaitlyn grinned._

"_How did you get my phone number anyway?"_

"_Ahhhhh…..." Kaitlyn blushed._

"_The electronic phone book, duh!" Emily put an arm around Kaitlyn's shoulder and laughed nervously._

"_Mmmmhmmm. Yup. Totally." Kaitlyn stuttered._

"_What do you mean? We-"_

_Kaitlyn put her hand over Uran's mouth._

"_That's not important right now, Uran." Kaitlyn laughed nervously._

"_But-"_

"_Anyways, bye Dr. Claire!" Kaitlyn waved goodbye as they walked down the driveway._

"_Bye!" Dr. Claire waved goodbye to them._

_It was finally the day. _

_Dr. Claire had butterflies in her stomach as she fixed her hair._

"_I hope this goes well. I think I actually have real feelings for him now..." She looked in the mirror._

I hoped so too…

But something didn't seem right in my brain…

Something

_Important._

_She heard a door close outside._

_She pulled the curtain back to see Tenma walking up to her door._

"_I'm not sure if I'm ready for this..." She blushed as she leaned against the wall, her heart thumping loudly._

_She held her fingers to her mouth as if she was biting them, her face looked embarrassed._

_She sighed._

"_I can do this..."_

_She heard a knock at the door._

_She slowly opened it._

_Tenma was standing there blushing with a bouquet of flowers in his hand._

"_Aww, these are so pretty, Bill.. thanks so much!"_

"_Y-your welcome, Cindy… I thought you might like them." He handed them to her._

_She took his hand and led him inside._

"_I- I know the place looks like a mess, but I'm gonna clean it later…." She placed the flowers in a vase with water._

"_It looks perfect to me." He looked around._

"_Uh- uh.. th- thanks!" Dr. Claire blushed._

"_**You**__ look perfect..." He looked at her, in her stunning black dress._

"_And you look perfect as well.." Dr. Claire beamed._

_Tenma was wearing a slightly casual suit jacket and a dress shirt with slacks._

"_Th-Thank you!"_

"_I just need to grab my coat and we can go."_

_She took her coat out of a nearby closet._

"_Let me help you with that..." Tenma walked up to her._

"_Uh- uh, sure!" Dr. Claire handed Tenma her coat._

_She slipped one arm in and the other into the coat. She ended up facing Tenma._

"_Stunning..." He held her hands._

_Dr. Claire blushed, there was a loud pounding in her chest._

_Dr. Tenma could feel it through her hands. He blushed. ((*dies* ~kate))_

I couldn't help but blush myself…

This is even worse then when I took Brianna to go get ice cream.

Everyone there thought i was having a heart attack or something cuz i was like a mad person there.. it was too much for me.

It was like the whole world could notice I was breaking down and having a case of the crushies.

It was that bad..

But _this_.

This was _worse_. ((awww, even Astro is obsessing over dis xD ~Emily))

"_Ahh….. We should get going..." Claire looked into his eyes._

"_Yes, we should."_

_They started walking towards the door. Tenma slowly wrapped his arm around her waist. It almost tickled her in a way. ((-/w/- ~kate))_

_Dr. Claire had a look of surprise on her face, she tried not to laugh because it tickled. _

_They went out to the car._

"_I haven't been on a date in a long time." Tenma chuckled._

_"Neither have I..." _

_He started the car and they drove off to the restaurant._

"_Le Chef Plan" was in cursive on a sign. _

I yawned and stretched on the couch.

"Oh come on, you HAD to pick the best part?!" Tenma complained.

"Yep, pretty much!" I gave him a toothy grin.

He tried not to roll his eyes.

"So whats so great about this part anyways... you're just eating?!" I pretended like I wasn't really into the story..

"Hush, Astro. Will you just listen for once?" Tenma whispered to me.

"Hush, Tenma. I will not listen because I am bored to death." I whispered back.

He wiped his face with his hands.

"You know, I think we make a pretty good team, I insult you, and you respond like a clown.. we could be comedians!" I exclaimed. ((*facedesks* ~kate))

Tenma leaned back in his chair and looked away.

"What am I gonna do with you?..."

"Well you created me.. dats your loss..."

"But that doesn't sound like a bad idea tho..." I smirked.

_They walked in. It was dimly lit and classical music played softly in the background. There were small candles flickering at every table._

_"Welcome to Le Chef Plan." the hostess greeted when Dr. Claire and Tenma made it inside the restaurant. ((Astro: BWAHAHAHAHA... really Kait.. "Le Chef Plan"?!~Emily)) ((for readers: it's an inside joke xD ~kate))_

"That's a stupid name for a fancy place..." I folded my arms and smiled.

"Ugh, can you just listen to the story?!" Tenma sounded annoyed.

My eyes began to water.

"O-okay then..." I sighed.

"A-astro..."

"N-no... just tell the story so I can go home and get the hell out of here, I promise not to talk anymore..."

Tenma sighed.

"_Table for two please." Tenma held up two fingers._

"_Right this way, sir." The hostess guided them over to a table. There weren't many other people around them, making the atmosphere even more romantic._

_Tenma pulled out a seat so Dr. Claire could sit down._

_"Thank you." Dr. Claire sat in the chair, Tenma scooted her foreword._

_Tenma sat in the seat opposite of her._

_A waiter came and handed them their menus, another came and placed plates of salad on their table._

"_Ahh. I know what to do." Dr. Claire thought._

_She lifted up the smallest fork and picked up a piece of lettuce with it. She took a small bite._

"_So how has work been for you?" Tenma tried to start a conversation._

_"Oh it's been wonderful I'm so glad I switched fields..." Dr. Claire responded. _

"_Must be nice..." Tenma smiled._

_"It is..._

"_Why did you really leave the ministry? I'm starting to question what Dr. Elefun said."_

"_I sorta freaked out a little and went against the rules a teensy bit..."_

_"Aww, you must've been heartbroken when they fired you..." Dr. Claire had a worried yet sympathetic look on her face. _

"_Yes... but I took it as an opportunity to spend more time with my son."_

_"Y- you have a son?" Dr. Claire looked confused._

"_Astro…. my 'son'."_

_"Oh yeah.. but why is he staying with Elefun if he's your 'son'?"_

"_Well he isn't technically my biological child. He was more of an... attempted copy..."_

_"Hmm... I see... But what do you mean by 'copy'?..." _

"_I had an actual family once…. but..." He slowly dropped the fork he was holding up to his mouth. _

_"What happened?"_

_Tenma sighed._

"_Well, I was living a fairly normal life. I had the job of my dreams and a beautiful wife and son… But things just… changed… for the worse…."_

_"What?" Dr. Claire sounded confused, but she was really surprised._

"_My wife… she was so sweet… she looked a lot like you too… She always had a smile on her face, even though I could see she was hurt; she still said she was fine and went along like normal. But… she told me one day that she wasn't feeling well… She usually wouldn't tell me if she was in pain. She turned into an almost different person. She would just lay in bed almost lifeless. I could feel her cringe in pain sometimes. But she never wanted to see a doctor… It got so bad that I had to rush her to the hospital. It took them a while to find out what was wrong, but when they did it was a little too late…. They took her in for surgery… and… and she didn't come back out..."_

_"I- I'm so sorry... f-for your loss!" Dr. Claire's eyes began to water._

"_Then my son.. I feel like I put all my anger towards him even though he didn't deserve it. He reminded me of her… too much.. .and sometimes I just couldn't be around him… I put my work first. But he wanted to go to the park with me… he would ask again and again… I told him I was too busy. That's when he drove away… he had no idea how to drive… he was far too young… and a truck…."_

_Tenma started to sob._

"_I could have stopped it. I could have stopped it all from happening…."_

_His hand was on the table and pulling at the table cloth._

"_I…. I…." Dr. Claire reached her hand out and laid it on his. She could feel him loosen his grip._

"_It's ok. I'll help you through this." She was holding his hand._

_Tenma looked up, tears streaming down his face._

_Dr. Claire leaned forward and wiped away some of his tears from his face._

_He looked into her eyes._

"_Th-thank you…." He said, leaning in closer to Dr. Claire._

_They closed their eyes as they leaned in even closer. ((Oooohh steamy! xD ~Emily))_

_Dr. Claire opened her eyes._

"_Ah… I.. I can't do this…." She leaned back._

"_W-what do you mean?" _

"_I'm sorry." She grabbed her purse and ran out of the restaurant. ((Run forest, run! ~Emily)) ((seriously, emi u lol ~Kate))_

"_Cindy!" Tenma ran after her._

_He grabbed her shoulder._

_"AH! I don't wanna be in love anymore... I'm sorry.." She turned around. ((lol I got inspired by a song title to write dat xD ~Emily)) _

"_What do you mean by that?" Tenma's heart sunk to his stomach._

_"I just can't... I mean, I love you but... we just can't be together..." _

"_W-why not?"_

_"We..." _

_Dr. Claire sighed._

_"I can't do this to you... you had everything and here I come like a wrecking ball and just.. steal it somehow..." _

"_I had it too perfect. I was too caught up in all of it that I didn't know I was destroying my own life."_

_"And I need to let you fix it.. not come in and take control... I have a job, work... and that's what I want to continue to do.. not be with someone.."_

"_But this time.. I'll fix anything. I won't be so oblivious." He took her hands in his._

_"I'm sorry.. but this isn't gonna work no matter what you do... we were meant to be apart..." _

"_But…. this feeling…" He put his hand on his chest._

_"Ahhh... I'm sorry.." Dr. Claire began to sob. _

"_Cindy.. please don't cry..." He held her close to him._

_"I- I.." _

"_I just want you to be happy. When I first saw you, I felt this sudden responsibility for you.. for your life.. for your joy..."_

_"And I already am... I'm happy with what I am and what I have.. I don't need anything more..."_

"_That's what I thought… I don't want you to go through what I did…."_

_There was no response back. _

"_Cindy…." He looked into her eyes again._

_Dr. Claire shook her head and tried to pry herself away from him. _

_There was only one thing he thought he could do._

_He pulled her close and pressed his lips against hers. _

_She calmed down and put her arms around him. ((Aww.. dats too cute! ~Emily)) _

_They let go and she looked into his eyes. ((*sobs grossly* TTTTTuTTTTT ~kate))_

"_I-I love you…." She said._

"Ahh.. that's too cute for me.. please stop trying to kill me." Tears were still streaming down my face, I sounded worried even though I wasn't.

Tenma tried to keep a serious face as he was telling the story. But he was still blushing.

"Ahh..." my face went red.

This is nothing actually...

You should see me when I walk over to Brianna's house...

No really you should, its hilarious!

I look like goofy mixed with cupid out there...

"Mmm.. now I'm hungry again" I giggled.

"But didn't you_ just _eat something?!"

"Yeah, but I don't eat a lot because it makes me vomit.. I'll go get it while you yell at me the rest of the story.."

"Why don't I just wait until you get back?"

"Ehhhhh.. no." ((Typical Astro ~Emily))

Tenma sighed.

"Don't worry, I won't be long.."

I walked over to the kitchen again.

"Ya know, you really need to sweep this glass before I trip and kill myself.." I tip toed over to the fridge.

"Come on, tell me the story?!" I yelled at him.

"Ok! Geeez!" He yelled.

"Thanks!" I smiled.

_The rest of the week, Claire and Tenma continued to talk over the phone. But Dr. Claire had extra paperwork she had to do and she needed to finish what she didn't do the week before._

"_Do you want to come over sometime today or tomorrow?" Tenma asked her sweetly._

"_I'm sorry, Bill, darling. I have so much paperwork to do." She sighed._

"_Oh…. well…. That's ok. We can always find some other time to get together." He sounded a little bit disappointed. _

_Dr. Claire looked worried. _

"_You know I still love you..."_

"_I love you, too." He sighed._

"_I have to get back to working now, sweety. I love you. Bye."_

"_Love you. Bye."_

_She hung up the phone._

I closed the fridge and walked back to the living room.

"I hate you, your fridge is half empty.. how dare you not stock on food!"

"I don't particularly find joy in shopping for food I don't need."

"Yeah, and what if i show up one day, hmmm?"

"Which is a reason you need to be afraid of me..."

I held a piece of ham in my hand..

**Okay Astro, gotta go easy, you don't want it go out, you want it to go in..**

I tried to take small nibbles.

"Ah.. I forgot to tell you, keep telling the story.. this will be a while.." I took another small nibble.

_Tenma decided to meet Dr. Claire on her way to work. He sat on a bench, waiting._

_Kaitlyn and Emily were strolling by to go visit Astro's twin, they spotted Tenma sitting on a bench._

"_Sup, buttface." Kaitlyn waved to him, sticking her tongue out and grinning._

_"I'm not In the mood young lady.. I'm waiting for someone." ((woah Tenma. You and your attitude. pft ~kate))_

"_Pft. RUDE!"_

_Dr. Claire was walking on her way to work, she spotted Tenma and the girls.._

"_Bill?"_

_"Who's Bill?" Emily whispered to Kaitlyn. _

"_I have no idea…. Her imaginary friend?" Kaitlyn whispered back._

"_Just keep walking. You don't wanna mess with crazy people..." Kaitlyn started walking, pulling Emily along with her._

_"Uh... what are you doing here?" Dr. Claire asked._

"_I… just wanted to see you..." He smiled as he stood up._

_"Hehe.. well um.. I need to go to work... sorry..."_

"_Can't you stick around for just a few minutes." Her put his arms around her waist and pulled her in close._

_"I wish i could but Dr. Elefun Is such a pain, he'll fire me if i show up late!" She placed her hands on his chest._

"_I parked my car around the corner. I can drive you there if I have to."_

_"N- no, it's okay! I can walk to work myself... _

_"Besides.. I love what I do… It's my new dream…."_

"_But... you're my new dream." He smiled at her, moving a piece of hair off of her face._

"_I-I can't…."_

"_Can't what, sweety?"_

"_I just can't do this. I can't be with you…." She pushed herself away from him._

"_B-but.. Cindy..."_

"_You said I'm like your late wife, right? Am I just her replacement? Like how Astro is your son's replacement?!" She started to cry._

_"I- I …." _

"_I would never!" Tenma tried to hold her hand, but she just pulled her hand away._

"_Yes you would! I never want to see you again!" She ran off to work._

"_Cindy!" Tenma took a step forward, reaching out to her._

_He pulled his hand back. _

_"No.. I gotta let her go… She has enough pressure on her already…"_

_He sat back on the bench._

_Days passed and Dr. Claire didn't associate herself with Tenma, no calls, dates, meets... just her and her work._

_Just the way she liked it._

_Always._

_She felt like something was missing though. But she convinced herself that she was just hungry or sick._

_Tenma laid in bed for the most of those days. Thinking about life again. He never even looked at his phone since that day. He didn't get any calls anyway._

_He finally got up and walked sluggishly to the living room and leaned back on the couch.. He still had a box of the collectible knives. They didn't go up for auction yet._

_The same sword that he had almost killed himself with laid against the wall._

"_What even is honor anymore?" He asked himself, taking a sip of his tea._

"_Honor….." The word echoed through his head._

"_I got it!" He sat up._

_Claire had buried herself in her work. It was all she did. But suddenly she got a phone call. She looked at her phone._

"_Bill" it said._

_She looked away and continued working._

_5 minutes passed and it rung again._

"_Just leave me alone!" She yelled out. She ignored the phone call._

_The second it stopped, it rang again._

_She angrily picked it up._

"_What do you want?! I said I never want to talk to you again!"_

"_Can't you just hear me out?….." He said innocently. _

_"With these papers.. you wish!" Dr. Claire folded her arms. _

"_Look, I know you must hate me now…."_

_"Annnnddd?" _

"_You are so much more to me than my wife was..."_

_"Sure..." Dr. Claire spoke with sarcasm. _

"_You may look a little like her, but you are so different. You aren't afraid to tell me your feelings. You have more passion than she or I ever had…. Your smile means so much more because it's true and it's not hiding anything.."_

_Dr. Claire rolled her eyes._

_"Listen Bill.. this just isn't working okay, it never will! Now just leave me alone so i can do my work!" _

"_I'm sorry.. I'm sorry that I make this all about me. If you're happy with what you are doing, then I respect that…."_

_"Thank you." Dr. Claire nodded her head._

"_I'd just like to let you know that you are a wonderful person… and I'd be honored to..." He couldn't seem to finish his sentence._

_"What?" _

"_I'd be honored to call you my… wife..."_

_"Excuse me?!" _

"_Cindy. Please. Will you marry me?" He blurted out._

_"No I will never marry you even if you were the last person in this universe!" _

"_Cindy..."_

_"Stop! Don't call me Cindy anymore... you don't deserve to.."_

"_I.. I'm so sorry." He sounded like he was crying._

_"Now I have to do my work, you have a great day sir!"_

"_I could help you with your work!"_

_"No thanks, I do my work solo."_

"_J..Just give me a chance… please… "_

_Dr. Claire sighed._

_"No." She muttered. _

"_But I love you…."_

_"Well I don't... can you just hang up now?!" _

"_F-fine..."_

_He hung up. He laid on the couch and sobbed._

_"Phew! Glad that's over..." Dr. Claire returned to her work._

"And that's the end…." Tenma was resting his head on his hand.

I dropped the ham.

"W- what?!" I yelled.

"N- no, that can't be it.. it can't be you liar!"

"Not all stories have a happy ending." Tenma looked almost angry.

"No its not over, your lying and I hate you, you son of a bitch, how dare you do this to me!" Tears streamed down my face.

"You came here. You wanted the rest of the story. I gave it to you. Cindy wouldn't have told it any different."

"I HATE YOU, YOU KNOW THAT, ALL I CAME HERE FOR WAS TO APOLOGIZE FOR WHAT I'VE DONE BUT YOU KNOW WHAT?"

"Well I'm sorry. And you aren't the first person to hate me."

"I TAKE MY APOLOGY BACK... YOU'RE THE WORST FATHER THIS WORLD HAS EVER INVENTED AND I HOPE YOU GOT WHAT YOU DESERVED!"

"Well, thanks for rubbing that in..." He looked at me. He was angry but there were tears in his eyes.

"I- I can't take this!" I grabbed my stuff and stormed out of the house, slamming the door so hard you could feel the earth shake no matter where the hell you were.

Tenma dried his eyes and got himself together.

"I didn't think telling that story would be so hard…."

A few minutes had passed and Tenma was sitting with a cup of coffee, the blanket Astro had on him was sitting on the couch next to him, the ham had small bite marks and sat by his feet.

"The hell with honor. I should have just killed myself then and there. No one would have given a damn." He took a sip of the coffee.

I was so furious at the world, I kept running and running and running again...

But I never understood why i did anyway...

Tenma heard a light knock at the door.

He sat the coffee on the end table next to him and got up.

He opened the door to see Dr. Claire standing there with no coat, freezing.

"Cindy!"

"I..I..I'm so sorry, Bill." She was crying.

"Come here." Tenma pulled her close to him.

He lifted her up and walked over to the couch, closing the front door with his foot. He sat down with Dr. Claire on his lap.

He pulled the blanket over them.

"I'm so sorry!" She had buried her face into his chest.

"Shhh. It's ok." He slowly rocked side to side.

"After telling the story to Astro I realized what I did was wrong... so I had to come and apologize..."

"You didn't do anything wrong. It's all my fault. You're beautiful, smart, kind, compassionate and I don't deserve you."

"Shut up! Its all my fault okay, and you _do _deserve me more than ever!"

"You really don't have to do this…."

"Look, Bill…. Can we just start over?" She sat up in his lap.

"Ah…. ok..." He blushed.

"Ok. I'll start…. Hello! My name is Cindy Claire." She held her hand out.

"I am Umatrō Tenma. But you can call me Bill." He shook her hand.

"And you are perfect..." He stared into her eyes.

She pulled his head in closer to hers.

"I love you." She whispered.

She closed her eyes and placed her lips on his. ((OK I'M DONE. BAI *dies* ~Kate)) ((xD Kate ~Emily))

"About the whole 'marriage' thing…." Dr. Claire looked at Tenma.

"Yeah?"

"I'd like to work on it." She winked.

Suddenly, there was a loud noise coming from outside that almost sounded like a scream.

"What was that?" They both looked surprised.

I was face down on the ground, my whole system was going haywire. I couldn't think, all I could do was scream and feel pain.

Tenma and Dr. Claire walked outside. Claire was pressed up against him.

My system shut down...

I guess you could say I was...

Dead.

"Go back inside and I'll go look." Tenma started to run off.

"B-but." She began to shiver even though the blanket was still around her.

She dropped the blanket on the ground and began to run after Tenma.

"Astro!?" Tenma stopped when he saw the lifeless robot laying on the ground.

"Bill? What's wrong!?" Claire caught up to him.

They were both breathing hard from the run.

"What are you doing here? I told you to go inside. You'll freeze to death out here."

"I want to help."

"Ahh…. ok… I'm not going to stop you..."

"What happened to Astro?" She knelt down on the ground.

"I'm not sure. We can look further into it at my house." Tenma slowly picked up Astro and held him on his side. His head slumped over Tenma's shoulder.

"Come here." He motioned for Dr. Claire to come up to him.

He put his arm over her shoulder and held her close.

"You're so warm..." She said softly. ((Lol remember when I said that to Astro's twin xD ~Emily)) ((i know -u- dat reference tho ~kate))

They walked back to Tenma's house.

"What are we gonna do with him?" Dr. Claire asked.

"I'm going to fix him of course."

"And i shall assist, it'll help with my training."

He kissed her forehead.

Dr. Tenma and Claire walked down into the basement (it was actually a lab, but he put it in the basement).

"Is he going to be ok?" She sounded concerned.

"I- I'm not sure…"

I didn't know what exactly happened to me or what was happening at the moment, but all the sudden, i felt warm on the inside (i know it sounds crazy, now shut up!).

I woke up and saw Dr. Claire and Tenma making out. ((ouo ~Kate))

"Uhhh…" I had a blank look on my face.

"Hmm?" Dr. Claire opened her eyes and looked over at me.

"Am i suppose to be watching this?" I sat up and stretched my arms.

"Uh….. ah…." Tenma was blushing.

"Well at least i know I'm not the _only _one" I giggled. ((The more you read my fanfics the more this sentence will make sense to you ~Emily))

Dr. Claire and Tenma laughed.

"But wait a second… how the hell did I get _here_?!" I seemed lost, yet surprised.

"You shut down in the middle of the road." Dr. Claire walked up and sat next to me.

"Haha… thats normal" I beamed.

I counted in my head how many times I've shut down in the middle of the road.

"That's not good though. I can make it so that doesn't happen anymore." Tenma looked concerned.

"No please, I enjoy it!" I laughed.

I just _love_ being a pain in everyone's ass.

"You're a strange, strange child, Astro." Tenma sighed.

"Thank you!"

"Why did you run away?" Dr. Claire asked me.

"I- I- uh…. I choose not to talk about that.." I looked down, closed my eyes and sighed.

"Come on, you can tell me." She put her arm over my shoulder.

"I- It's too complicated, you'll never understand" I rubbed my eye, I didn't wanna look like a baby and cry though…

She gave me a hug.

"Well everything is fine now."

"I- I thought if I ran away, I could escape what I was hiding from, but I never could…" I whispered.

"It was like I was destined to kill myself and die…"

Tenma walked over and put his arms around me and Dr. Claire. He had tears in his eyes.

"I just didn't wanna be here anymore… i'm not even sure why I still am.."

"When's the last time I ever saved anyone or anything anyway?"

"It- It.. just doesn't… matter." I began to sob.

"You matter to us." Dr. Claire took my head in her hands and looked into my eyes.

"Thanks, but I think it's a little too late for that.."

"I can no longer compete with myself anymore, I lost the battle, and myself…" I looked away briefly.

"Someone shouldn't have to feel like that."

"Well then if they _shouldn't _feel like that, why am _I _feeling this?"

"Sometimes we aren't sure what we are feeling or we don't like it. But you can always change that." She looked at Tenma.

He smiled while tears streamed down his face.

"It takes time…. but eventually you'll find out what you really want…. deep down..."

I looked down at my shirt, my cheeks went red.

"Ahhh, uh…" ((SUCH FEELS ~Kate))

"Whats wrong?"

"N- nothing!" I blurted out.

For a moment I almost assumed my heart was gonna leap out of my chest and run away.

I was acting up again,

And this wasn't good. ((why do I find this cute? O_O ~Emily))

"A- Ah, I g- guess i better get going" I laughed nervously, trying to cover my red face.

"Can't you just stay a few seconds?" Dr. Claire asked.

I couldn't really hear her because there was a loud throbbing noise in my ears, blocking most of my hearing of the outside world.

"What?" I asked.

"Can't you just stay a few seconds?"

"Huh?"

Dr. Claire sighed.

"Never mind…"

"No, I couldn't hear you, what was it?"

"I said, can't you just stay a few seconds?"

"Uh… I don't know, It's almost 11 and Elefun might be worried that I ran away again.." I shrugged my shoulders.

"Well the least you could do is give us a 'goodbye hug' " Dr. Claire looked at me and smiled.

I bit my lip, trying not to cry and ran into their arms.

They held me tight.

And the warm feeling came back again.

But it was a little different.

It almost felt like were a…..

**family….**

Which is strange…

Because I never knew what a family exactly _was_.

But it felt good.

THE

END

Authors Note: AJDEWNIDAADMDDOMAOAWMDFKFMDDKJ So many FEEEELLLLSSS… and this story is so cute xD ~Emily

Co-author's note: …. woops the co-author died….. it seems the feels were too much for her. RIP Kaitlyn's soul. ~Bob (Kaitlyn's personal secretary/intern/assistant/cool guy ;D ~bob)


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